JA_Redacted.pdf

Controlled Unclassified Information

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

I. Agency and Contracting Activity.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) is to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition. This Justification is in support of requirements generated for Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Special Operations Forces (SOF) / Personnel Recovery (PR) Rotary Division (AFLCMC/WIU). The Contracting activity responsible for this acquisition is the SOF/PR Rotary Division (AFLCMC/WIUKB) at Robins Air Force Base, GA. The Purchase Request number supporting this contracting action is FD2060-21-31353.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

Due to the circumstances described herein, this activity requests authority to acquire engineering support services for the TH-1H and UH-1N helicopters, collectively referred to as H-1 using Other Than Full and Open Competition as prescribed by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

This requirement will be awarded as a follow-on, five-year Definitive “C” type contract with a 12-month basic period and four 12-month options. This requirement will utilize multiple contract types including, but not limited to, Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost Reimbursable – No Fee (CR-NF). The projected five-year period of performance (PoP) is 01 April 2022 to 31 March 2027, if all options are exercised.

The sole source requirement will be awarded to the following contractor:

Bell Textron, Inc. (Bell) 3255 Bell Flight Blvd Fort Worth, TX 76118-7630 CAGE Code: 97499 Large Business

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs (including the estimated value).

This requirement is for Full-Time Equivalent engineering support services for the H-1 helicopter platforms. This support will include allowing the Government to access Bell proprietary data including but not limited to structural/component data, drawings, qualification data, and analysis techniques as required to adequately maintain operational, safety, suitability, and effectiveness (OSS&E) for the 89 aircraft in the H-1 fleet. This requirement includes repair and modification engineering support. In addition, support required for mishap investigations and solutions to grounding issues.

The total estimated cost of this requirement is $750K-15M based on an estimate of engineering hours for similar efforts and the baseline cost of the current H-1 engineering support services highly specialized service. Without this continued support, the H-1 program would experience unacceptable delays in modification support, accident investigation, re-qualification of data, and issuing technical order changes.

The proprietary nature of the data is documented and repeated efforts to procure the data from Bell have been unsuccessful as Bell has declined to offer the data rights for sale. Bell delivered a technical data package with the aircraft production effort in the 1960’s, however the data has not been maintained over the years to a level that adequately captures all design changes to reflect current operational conditions since aircraft delivery. The technical data does not include documentation required to manufacture most of the components. The Government does not have access rights to the data required to perform fatigue evaluation based on the usage spectrum and fatigue methodologies.

The Government requested on 14 May 2021 a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost to purchase the H-1 Helicopter platform technical data package (TDP). Bell responded they are not interested in selling their proprietary processes, analysis techniques/methods, and other technical data which has been developed by Bell at a private expense.

Currently, Bell provides H-1 engineering support under sole source contract FA8552-17-D-0001.

The contract was awarded 01 January 2017 and expires on 31 December 2021. Through the issuance of orders, there should be no gap in coverage between the current contract and proposed contract.

Occasionally, the UH-1N organic repair depot requires engineering assistance to resolve Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) issues beyond the published technical orders. The current contract provides reach back to the OEM and allows the Government engineers access to expertise and engineering data to resolve PDM issues and manage requirements. The follow-on contract will provide this same level of service.

Award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Air Force’s requirements. A reverse engineering assessment performed by the Government in March 2019 determined developing a TDP would not be economically feasible.

Actions required by the Government or a new source to develop a TDP is estimated to cost $50M (ie., engineering labor and technical documentation). It is estimated to take three to five years to reverse engineer the technical data for the development/verification and validation for fatigue analysis and component re-qualifications. There are over 800 critical safety components and more than 1,000 aircraft components on the H-1 fleet for which the Government requires up-to-date technical data. In order to reverse engineer these parts and develop the TDP to support repair and operational usage and spectrum analysis, it is estimated to require 50 engineers working three to five years full-time, at a loaded rate of $100 per hour. The estimation includes time required to award a full and open competitive contract, qualify a new vendor, and begin receiving engineering support services. Estimates are based on similar efforts to reverse engineer the fuel system on UH-1N helicopter, which costs $30M and took ten years to complete.

The majority of the UH-1 fleet is rapidly approaching the end of its economic service life. Only a portion will remain in service through 2042 and studies indicate the economic service life of the TH-1 will not go past that time. It is unlikely to continue flying with the current configuration beyond 2042 given issues with payload capacity and flight limitations dictated by future mission requirements. It would take 25 years to recoup a $50M reverse engineering investment based on a 10-15% savings through competition. The Government would not reach the expected financial break-even point of 25 years before the end of the service life of the aircraft, therefore pursuing a reverse engineering effort of the TDP is not economically feasible. Plus, the magnitude of risk and the unacceptable delay would impact the Government’s ablity to maintain the H-1 helicopters. Additionally, the Government would still not have access to component and repair history of the H-1 helicopters that are not part of the Government’s fleet. This information is crucial for preventative maintenance and OSS&E.

Accordingly, Bell is the only vendor capable of providing the services described in Section III above without the USAF experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not be expected to be recovered through competition and incurring unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies.

A Request for Information (RFI) was posted to beta.SAM.gov on 26 February 2021 with responses due by 26 March 2021. Ther RFI was posted under Synopsis number FA8552-21- ENGINEERINGSUPPORT. The RFI requested responses from interested potential sources that may be able to provide engineering support for the USAF H-1 Fleet, as well as provide USAF H-1 System Program Office (SPO) technical expertise, access to OEM proprietary data. Xu Consulting Engineering P.C. (CAGE: 8GRC5 ) was the only respondent to the RFI. Evaluation of their capability determined Xu Consulting Engineering P.C. lacked experience with the H-1 fleet and did not have access rights to Bell’s proprietary, therefore were deemed not a capable source.

The requirement will be synopsized on SAM.gov in accordance with FAR 5.201. It is anticipated that sources having an interest in subcontracting will be identified through the synopsis. Any source who responds to the Government as a result of the synopsis will be identified to the prime contractor as a potential for subcontracting possibilities.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the

Government will be fair and reasonable.

The overall cost of this acquisition will be determined fair and reasonable by the Government. In accordance with FAR 15.403-4, the Contractor will be required to provide certified cost or pricing data to support the Government's evaluation of the proposed cost. The proposed skill mix of labor, labor, labor hours, types, and quantities of material and other direct costs will be negotiated by the Government based on recommendations from the Defense Contract Management Agency and expert technical personnel supporting the program. The contract price will be negotiated in accordance with the procedures in FAR Part 15 ensuring the ultimate cost to the Government is fair and reasonable.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted 26 February 2021 through 02 April 2021 in accordance with FAR Part 10.001 and 10.002. The Government program management and engineering team conducted research to identify potential sources that may be able to provide engineering support for the USAF H-1 fleet. The market research techniques used were as follows:

The Small Business Administration Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) engine was queried using North American Industry Classification System Code 336411 (aircraft manufacturing) and keyword "Helicopter." Eighty-nine (89) small businesses were identified in the query. A top-level analysis was performed to determine whether those identified small businesses could meet the Government’s mission requirements. The companies were shown to have experience in selling aircraft parts and services, such as overhaul or standard repairs to include flight lessons.

They were determined not capable of performing the required task to support the H-1 helicopter program due to lack of access to OEM proprietary data.

As described in Section VI above, a RFI was posted to beta.SAM.gov advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested vendors. The RFI was posted on 26 February 2021 under Synopsis number FA8552-21-ENGINEERINGSUPPORT. Xu Consulting Engineering P.C. was the only respondent. They were determined not capable of meeting the requirement.

The TH-1 and UH-1 helicopters are military platforms and the engineering services required to support these platforms are not commercially available. Based on the limiting factor of proprietary data constraints that would preclude open competition, these terms and conditions are not prevalent requirements in the commercial workplace; therefore, this acquisition will not meet the requirements for a FAR 12 commercial item/services award.

The market research results indicate Bell is the only vendor capable of fulfilling the Government’s requirement. Only Bell possesses the expert knowledge, proprietary data, analysis techniques, and drawings capable of performing the field, modification, and accident investigation support to maintain OSS&E of the H-1 Platform.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

See Section VI above

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

The Government has been unable to obtain an updates TDP from Bell to support competitive acquisition. The most recent request was on 14 May 2021. The Government requested a ROM cost to purchase the H-1 Helicopter platform TDP. Bell responded they are not interested in selling their proprietary processes, analysis techniques/methods, and other technical data which has been developed by Bell at a private expense.

It was determined economically unfeasible to invest in a $50M reverse engineer effort given the magnitude of risk and unacceptable delay in producing a TDP to adequately maintain the aircraft. The majority of the UH-1 fleet is rapidly approaching the end of its economic service life. Only a portion will remain in service through 2042 and studies indicate the economic service life of the TH-1 will not go past that time. Based on this, the Government would not recoup a reverse engineering investment before the end of the economic service life of the aircrafts.

The plan to remove or overcome barriers to competition is to inquiry with the OEM their interest in selling the technical data package to the Government. The OEM will be contacted prior to exercise of option(s).

The plan to break barriers to competition in the prior J&A was to continue engaging the OEM on selling the TDP to the Government. That plan was completed, however the OEM continues to decline sell of the TDP to the Government. Based on fulfillment of the prior plan, the current J&A does not require higher level approval in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a) (S-70) (ii).

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature on the Coordination and Approval Document (CAD), I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) on the CAD, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.